No QE3? Really? Oh yes, Zero Hedge 1, Goldman Sachs (who can possibly forget Goldman's shark jumping "New US Golden Age" report from December after all it took was one bad NFP print for Goldman to launch QE2 back in August?) 0 (here and here)

Just out from Jan Hatzius

1. With the first quarter now behind us, we have downgraded our Q1 GDP estimate to 2.5% from 3.5%. By itself, that’s not a big deal. Most indicators other than those that happen to go into the GDP bean count—in particular, virtually all business surveys and labor market indicators—continue to look solid and are probably a more accurate guide to the economy’s true strength. We believe that first-quarter GDP was held down by temporary factors, including poor weather and perhaps a bad draw from noisy data. Because temporary factors must eventually reverse by definition, this could mean a very strong quarterly GDP reading in Q2 (we are at 4%).

2. But the risks to our second-half GDP forecast of 4% also remain on the downside, and that’s more meaningful. We don’t see anything dramatic at this point, just a few weaker signals here and there. Gasoline prices are making new highs again, fiscal policy is starting to tighten a bit more aggressively, and a couple of indicators—specifically ISM new orders and consumer expectations—have softened a bit. So H2 is on downgrade watch.

3. The inflation news is also a thorn in our side. We still think the pass-through from commodity prices into core inflation will be very limited, and there is still a large amount of slack even after the 1-percentage-point drop in the unemployment rate over the past four months. But the core inflation data has clearly been a little firmer than we thought, with rent and owners’ equivalent rent leading the way. At some level, this sounds a bit odd because it’s hard to believe that the battered housing sector is a genuine source of upside inflation risk. Nevertheless, the risks to our forecast that core inflation will stay at 1% are on the upside.

4. Some Fed officials have reacted to the firmer inflation numbers by slightly hedging their earlier calls for continued accommodation, emphasizing that significant second-round effects and higher inflation expectations would not be tolerated, and implying that monetary policy may need to be tightened a bit earlier than they had thought a few months ago. We share this view; given the recent data, the risks are skewed toward a somewhat earlier date for the first rate hike than our current forecast of 2013Q1.

5. But other Fed officials go far beyond this and sound a lot more concerned about the possibility of an inflationary outbreak. There is now a serious split on the FOMC. We believe that the split partly boils down to a disagreement about the significance of the monetary base (currency plus bank reserves held with the Fed). The base has tripled from $800 billion before the crisis to $2.4 trillion now, mostly because of a huge increase in excess bank reserves in the wake of the Fed’s large-scale asset purchase program. Some Fed officials, as well as many investors, believe that the increase in the base represents a large inflationary potential, over and above the factors emphasized by the FOMC majority such as GDP, employment, wages, capacity utilization, and input costs. Thus, they take any acceleration in inflation or inflation expectations as a potential signal that the dreaded day has arrived, at a time when the Fed is still “feeding the fire” by continuing to buy Treasuries.

6. Some of this particular concern may be rooted in the traditional money multiplier theory, which holds that the availability of bank reserves is the key constraint on bank lending. It implies that banks will eventually “use” the excess reserves to make significantly more loans. This, the story goes, will lead to a sharp increase in credit creation and ultimately inflation.

7. We disagree with this story and so, we think, does the FOMC majority.[TD: which means this is guaranteed to occur] It stands and falls with the assumption that (bank) loans are financed by deposits subject to minimum reserve requirements, and are therefore “constrained” by the amount of reserves in the system. In reality, however, most bank loans have long been primarily funded from sources other than deposits subject to minimum reserve requirements, including nontransaction deposits, bonds, and commercial paper. This means that bank lending was not constrained by the availability of reserves even prior to the increase in excess reserves. Relieving a non-existent constraint cannot be important for credit creation or inflation. If so, the monetary base is essentially meaningless. (This does not mean that QE2 had no effect, but it does mean that the effect is much more limited and works through the impact of the Fed’s larger asset holdings on bond yields and financial conditions, not through the liability side of the Fed’s balance sheet and the monetary base.)

8. The upshot is that the growth news is a little worse, the inflation news is a little worse, and the risk that the Fed might tighten before early 2013 has gone up a little. None of this is dramatic, and we think the basic story of good growth, low inflation, and friendly monetary policy that we have been telling since late last year still stands. But it’s all a little messier than we would like.

maybe theyll beat you to the punch
and pull the plug on black friday part 2 april 29.

"The world is within a 20 trading day window of the greatest asset valuation collapse in history. Intuitive is the premise that without the multitrillion exnihilo ('out of nothing' - G) dollar bailout by the world's central banks, world equity/commodity valuations would be less than their current bubble value. This money printing is beyond any historical provided easy credit. The results will likewise be historical."

reading you calling goldman flip flop artists is comical. you are the king of flip flops: fight the fed. don't fight the fed. jpm has a silver short position. the jpm short position is a myth. i'm itching to get short. i'll stay long until the summation index cracks. i'm an uber bull. i'm only long 30% of my investable money. gold is for dullards. i have gold stocks and gold coins. pigmen always win. leh and bear collapse. i could go on. but most zh veterans already know your low ways.

btw: who are the pigmen shaking down given market low volumes, and 1% of the population owning half the market?

Hatzius (Goldman Sachs) can say whatever he wants, of course; and it’s good for Zero Hedge to put it on.It shows what’s going on - the king’s ministers are telling us what the king’sgoing to do.

Is it the truth?Probably not, since they keep changing it. And since when does the “nimble” Goldman hem and haw over what “Fed officials” say or worry over a split on the FOMC when Goldman is the NYFed, i.e., the Fed, i.e., the don of dons…

The interesting thing is, these are revisions of the projections that have yet to be realized, and the next message we get will be more projections that haven’t been realized yet.It’s like telling you a year in advance who’s going to win the World Series, the next month telling you, “We’ve changed our mind,” and as the series is being completed: “We kinda thought it might not work out the way it looked earlier.”

It’s best to remember Goldman is in position to make money; not to provide information for its competitors.

"With the first quarter now behind us, we have downgraded our Q1 GDP estimate to 2.5% from 3.5"

If one of my analysts or portfolio managers had ever made a statement like that, they'd have been ridiculed by their peers before they got reamed out by me or my boss, etc.

It says;Now that the news and events have passed, we can pass on our new and revised forecast of those past events.

Amazing.Moreover, having sat through thousands of meetings, phone conversations, luncheons and whatnots listening to Zero Value Added tripe such as this, what really takes the cake is that somewhere down the line, absolutely no matter what transpires, they will look at you with a straight face and say that they did indeed correctly forecast the outcome.Because they've forecasted, redacted, retracted, modified, review and reissued so many prognostications that every base has indeed been covered.

Hence, no value added.

But, needs realize that one must indeed make it look as if one has worked hard for the rewards.

"If one of my analysts or portfolio managers had ever made a statement like that, they'd have been ridiculed..."

LOL...we live in an age where important data points are revised downward 25-50% habitually, by those schooled in the statist art of Keynes slight of hand theory, in an "economy" where government transfer payments make up 30% of GDP, with a MSM that had their tattered pom poms replaced with funds from O-Care & "shovel ready" sumpin or other.

here they go again, just softening the market up for QE3. It really is just getting too easy now. Just forget everything fundamental and trade the FED's reflation, deflation swings...until it all inevitably turns to shit . For anyone still grappling with these concepts i cant recomend the book "Dying of Money" by Jens O. Carsson enough. No link sorry

Well, I'm still in the "no more QE camp". Take a look around - see how light the traffic is? More than anything else, rising gas prices are having a direct life-style effect. How much higher can they go before people really begin to wake up & learn/realize that their lives are being fucked over by a small group of chosen, oops, 'preferred' constituents?

Now that the plane has landed, we are obligated to inform you of an increased chance for a mid-air collision. Thank you for flying Goldman air... And should you choose to fly with us again, it is important to note that we disagree with this story, and so do most experts.

Note: The subject matter discussed does not necessarily reflect our own opinion, unless proven true, in which case we warned you that flying can be messy.

800 billion in tarp, 1.2 Trillion in stimulus, QE1, QE LITE, QE2, HAMP, HARP, POMO, 99 WEEK EXTENSIONS, .25% FREE MONEY And look how far we have come? The channels are stuffed and the country can't even fight its way out of a wet paper bag. When will they realize you can't solve a debt crisis by combating it with more debt?

Mainstream media is all but ignoring these issues, when facts speak otherwise, you know it is big. It is placing the Great Ponzi at risk and the financial engineers / media controllers don't like that.__________________________________________________

I placed an article on "Sheltering In House" as text and as a downloadable Word Doc. Please review it, preparation is key.

Who cares. Buy Apple and other assorted goodies and dont worry about nothing. Ben will shower us with plenty of loaves and fishes. News about no QE3 is nothing but Hit bait on phony conservative websites. Good for a few clicks. QE will continue.